OCR Text

New Braunfels Herald Zeitung (Newspaper) - January 9, 1983, New Braunfels, Texas
Historians probe (Vietnam War
WASHINGTON (AP) — American contempt for the people of South Vietnam as corrupt and cowardly and incapable of fighting their own war was the key factor in the communist victory there, a former CIA analyst said Saturday.
Scholars examining lessons to be learned from the Vietnam War were also told that two crippling factors were the failure of American leaders to take the people into their confidence in making war decisions and the leaders’ lack of confidence that escalation of the conflict would do any good.
More than 80 academic and military historians and analysts spent ll hours during two days at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in one of the most ambitious efforts yet to assess what one speaker called “the largest, most costly and least successful war in American history."
An unspoken theme running through the conference was that America's
involvement had been a mistake, and another was that, in the long haul, the United States could not have won the war within the limits imposed by American society.
The contempt between American and South Vietnamese officials was mutual, and undercut their ability to win, said Allan E. Goodman, who served as presidential briefing coordinator for the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Another frequently made point was that every time U.S. policy makers escalated America’s commitment, they acted with no confidence that the action would win the war.
‘‘Civilian leaders knew, at critical junctures, that expanding commitment offered no assurance of success,” said Richard K. Betts of the Brookings Institution. “Yet at each juncture they saw no acceptable alternative to pressing on."
Most participants questioned whether American democracy is capable of winning a limited war against an enemy willing to persevere. Vietnam was the first war in which America sought to impose an ideology on another people, said historian Russell F. Weigley of Temple University.
Betts said: “It is clear that the war effort was not subverted by moral objections or distaste for use of force, but by a gradually building public perception that all the blood and treasure was simply being wasted to no visible end.
“The United States might be able to fight a limited war again, but only if it is not long and inconclusive," he said.
Added Douglas Pike, who spent 15 years in Saigon as this country’s leading interpreter of Vietnamese communism: “No democracray can fight a protracted conflict.”
Gramm vs. Kubiak
Special election could be landslide
By CHARLES
RICHARDS
Associated Press Writer
A scheduled Feb. 12 special election matching Phil Gramm and Dan Kubiak for the (itll Congressional District seat probably will be a runaway victory for Gramm, but Kubiak will make it interesting, predicts a Texas Democrat who has served with Gramm in Congress and with Kubiak in the Texas Legislature.
“I think Gramm will win and win big. But it will be interesting. Because Kubiak will come out swinging. He will not be afraid of Gramm. And Gramm will come out swinging," said the congressman, who requested anonymity.
Kubiak, 44, a seven-term veteran of the Texas House of Representatives, is the most prominent of three Democrats who have said the) will oppose Gramm iii the election, made necessary bv Grannies resignation and sw itch from Democrat to
Republican.
“Kubiak. I would sun , was very w ell read, well prepared. But lie was not a team player. He was accused of demagoguing every once in a w hile. It will be ail interesting race." the lawmaker added. “But Gramm will not run at Kubiak. He will run against lip O'Neill."
President Reagan bad encouraged Gramm to switch parties, and Gramm could have
taken the opportunity of staging his an
nouncement at the White House with
Reagan, a rather smashing start.
But Gramm had the results of a poll that showed not only that he could nn in as either a Democrat or
Republican but also that sentiment in his district against House Speaker Tip O’Neill to be even stronger than that for Reagan, Grannies colleague said. That decided the issue.
So the election shapes up as one in which Kubiak will lash out against “red-ink Reaganomics" and Gramm will wail against the woes of O’Neill, House Majority Leader Jim Wright, D-Texas, of Fort Worth and others w ho Gramm said have decided to continue on a spending course that has led the nation to the edge of financial chaos.
O’Neill and Wright led last week’s move to oust Gramm from the powerful Budget Committee as
punishment for the role
the 40-year-old former Texas A&M professor play ed as co-sponsor of Reagan’s budget proposal iii the House. Within two days, Gramm decided he was in the wrong party. Republicans promised him one of their Budget Committee assignments if he moved to their side of the aisle.
“If everyone my self for example if I resigned every time I didn’t get the committee I wanted, I would have resigned many times. But you have got to work and represent your constituents iii w hatever way you can." Kubiak said.
During 14 years iii the Texas House, Kubiak battled frequently with House Speaker Bill Clayton and was booted out of his position as chairman of the House Education Committee “because I voted for the wrong speaker."
But he didn’t leave the Democratic Party, Kubiak said, opting to continue pressing for bis legislation from the floor. He succeeded iii getting virtually all of it passed, he said.
Gramm was a leader iii the conservative Democratic “Boll Weevil" faction that combined with a bloc of Republican congressmen to produce a victory for tin’ president on his “economic
recovery" legislation a year ago.
Colleagues in the group tried to use that logic on Gramm. Had lie remained iii the party, they were arranging to designate Gramm to “work the floor” for the forum’s positions on budget issues, thereby maintaining a key profile in his area of expertise even without the Budget Committee slot.
Kubiak. a former high school teacher at Vernon and teacher and coach at Cypress-Fairbanks. gave up the Legislature to make an unsuccessful attempt last year to become Texas land commissioner. Kubiak’s dentist brother was elected to succeed him.
Iii just missing a runoff in the Democratic primary. Kubiak carried the counties of the (itll ( ongi ess I olla I I Astrict “by an overwhelming margin," he said.
Gramm held a news conference iii his hometown of College Station Wednesday to announce his decision. Kubiak formally announced for the seat Friday, also iii College Station.
Kubiak lives in Rockdale, about On miles west of College Station, and a few miles outside the (itll Congressional I Astrict boundaries. A
congressman is not required to live iii the district lie represents.
however.
At least two other candidates have announced they ’ll pay the $500 filing fee and get into the special election. They are Joe Agris, 42. a plastic surgeon from Houston, and Bill Pow ci s, 53, a businessman from Navasota who opposed Gramm when Gramm was first elected ti* Congress in 1978.
Gramm and other Boll Weevils were a failure, Kubiak said, particularly for far
mers. and many of the Texas members of the group represent far
ming areas.
“They placed themselves iii the
position they did without getting anything for it. They actually hurt the fanners. They could have gotten anything they wanted to (ash
these votes for the tax cut and the budget the president wanted, and they did not get
anything iii return for the fanner. They sold tile farmers down the river in the name o! Reaganomics," Kubiak said.
Kubiak, who served all of his 14 years iii the Texas House on the Agriculture Committee, said he thinks that's one reason he will fare well in the race.
“I really think I have a strong chance to win. My background is agriculture, which ‘Hi percent of that district
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Salvadoran officer defies defense head
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) - Col. Sigifredo Ochoa Perez claimed to have the support of three garrisons Saturday in his mutiny against the defense minister and said “we will make him resign."
Ochoa said Air Force Commander Col. Juan Rafael Bustillo had telephoned to express his support, but Bustillo could not immediately be reached for comment.
Considered by fellow officers to be one of the best field commanders in the government’s 3-year-old war against leftist guerrillas, Ochoa announced the mutiny against Defense Minister Jose Guillermo Garcia Thursday night. He refused Garcia’s order to go to Uruguay as military attache, saying it amounted to exile.
About 400 people, led by local heads of three political parties, rallied Saturday morning to demand that Garcia rescind the transfer order for the colonel.
The rally was held in Sensutepeque. 50 miles northeast of the capital, where Ochoa is believed to have about 900 soldiers. Military officers there said rallies continued through the day.
Officers in the U.S.-trained Atonal battalion confirmed Saturday that they supported Ochoa, but the commander, Col. Napoleon Calito, could not be reached for comment. With the Atonal, Air Force and San Miguel barracks, Ochoa would have about 4,000 troops, about one-ninth of the armed forces, including police and the national guard, supporting him.
Ochoa said he was sending a commission to the garrisons to gather support and collect signatures on a communique calling for Garcia’s resignation.
“The situation must define itself rapidly,” Ochoa told The Associated Press in Sensutepeque, 50 miles northeast of the capital. “If Garcia does not resign, we will make him resign.”
Garcia, defense minister since 1980. met Friday with U.S. Ambassador Deane R. Hinton, but it was not know n w hat they discussed.
Ochoa said Saturday he was not interested in the embassy’s position on his challenge to Garcia. The United States is the main supporter of EJ Salvador's military campaign against leftist insurgents.
“I don’t care what decision the U.S. embassy takes, although I admire the U.S. people for their democracy," Ochoa said.
Earlier, asked if he had consulted U.S. advisers about the rebellion, he said, “I have no reason to consult the Americans about what we have to do. They are our friends. We respect them, but I want them to understand that we are a nation that has its dignity."
I .ast June, Ochoa said lie did not think tile American military advisers based in El Salvador helped the army and that he never consulted them. About 55 U.S. advisers are based here, and several have expressed admiration for the colonel.
He said he had more respect for the armies of Taiwan and Israel. Before the civil war began, he once attended a training course conducted here by Israelis.
is,” he said.
Although Kubiak cannot hope to match the campaign war chest that Gramm has built up — largely because of Gramm’s support for tax cuts that favored the wealthy, Kubiak contends he hopes to benefit from the Democratic unity that manifested itself in the November Democratic landslide.
"I have my basic campaign structure already set up from the election I just ran. That was still intact. And other candidates, such as the land commissioner. called me nj) and said his campaign was still set up. And Jim Hightower i the new agriculture commissioner I said his was available to mc." Kubiak said.
"The dominoes just started falling, and nm* said, look, if tills is happening ... I've never seen such response and enthusiasm." Kubiak said.
Kubiak and his wife. /ana, have three children: Kelly Dan. ll: A lyssa Lea. 8; and Kody Earl. 3. He was reared, ironically. iii the halls County community of Reagan, where his father was a blacksmith, and graduated from high school at nearbN Marlin.
Scientists study quake area
MAMMOTH LAKES. Calif (AP) A continuing string of small earthquakes may signal volcanic activity in the rugged mountains around this high-country ski resort, a geologist who studies volcanoes said Saturday.
But C. Dan Miller and other scientists stressed at a news conference that no one is predicting an eruption in this community along the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada, across the mountains from Yosemite National Park.
“Our level of concern (about volcanoes) is above our level before this last earthquake swarm." Miller said. “That’s a very general statement."
Small quakes continued to jolt the region 200 miles east of San Francisco and 250 miles north of Los Angeles for the third straight day Saturday.
“We’re all wondering just what’s going on at depth (several miles beneath the surface» and just what the mechanisms are" that produced the quakes that began Thursday afternoon, said geologist Roger Martin of the California Department of Mines and Geology.
“The low-level seismic activity is persisting with frequent small magnitude earthquakes." said geophysicist Mark /aback at the U.S. Geological Survey offices iii Menlo Park.
“There have been several felt earthquakes, approximate magnitude it to 3.5 < (til tile Richter scale). in the last 24 hours, but there have no been larger events such as those which occurred Thursday night." he said, referring to quakes measured ut 5.5 and 5.6. „
Zoback said scientists expect the low-level activity to continue, but don't see that as a danger sign
“These things persist for a few days," he said. “We imagine it will go on for a while. Hut we have in* information that indicates the .situation is becoming more hazardous."
Scientists had been concerned that similar previous earthquake swarms and other geologic changes might reflect molten rock moving several miles beneath the ground.
“Nothing has changed. We have no way of forecasting whether anything might happen" on the
surface, said Dan Miller, a U.S. Geological Survey volcanologist.
The latest swarm of quakes began Thursday afternoon and continued well into Friday , hitting at a rate of more than one a minute. While most were too small to be felt, two moderate tremors late Thursday did minor damage at Mammoth I .ukes and caused the collapse of a hangar on a private plane at the nearby airport.SALTO'SGymnastic StudioCLASSES FOR CHILDREN AGES 3 AND UPRegistration Jan. 12 & 13 4:00 to 6:30 P.M.
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